The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
What stood out for you in this passage? What do you think it means? How might you apply it to your life?
Psalm 23 is a profession of joyful trust in the Lord as the good Shepherd-King. Within Psalms 15–24, it serves as the counterpart of Ps 16, with which it is thematically linked. The psalm uses the soothing imagery of a pastoral scene, with the Lord as the shepherd (vv. 1–4) and the host (vv. 5–6). In the ancient Near East, the metaphor of shepherd was a royal one, with connotations of strong leadership but tender care. The heart of the psalm is the central affirmation "you are with me" (v. 4). Those words stand out by virtue of their being at the exact structural center of the psalm. Even in the darkest valley, Yahweh leads David so that he fears no evil.
